finding the extraordinary in the ordinary

Archive for March, 2007

Just when I think Sean or Ben can’t get anymore irresistably cute, they do. And I can’t help but wonder, “Does it never end?” And yet I know that realistically there has to be some kind of cuteness threshold where kids reach their maximum level of cuteness for their lifetime and parents stop having the urge to squeeze and pinch and kiss them to pieces every chance they get (after all, I really don’t think my parents have the urge to squeeze and pinch and kiss me every chance they get, although my dad does still have a tendency to play with my hair and squeal, “Ooh, just look at those curls!”). But when does that threshold exist–at age 5, 10, 15? Or maybe I don’t want to know, so I won’t be dreading the day as it draws near. Because right now I’m loving that my boys just keep getting cuter and cuter.

Sean has been totally cracking us up lately with things that he says and does. Good and bad, I have to admit that Chris and I think they’re all cute and we have a hard time not laughing when we’re not supposed to. The other day Sean did something to Ben that hurt him and after Chris disciplined Sean we told him to tell Ben “sorry.” So he looks at Ben, throws his hands up in the air and said, “yorry,” in a tone that suggested he was thinking, “I have no idea why they’re making me do this, but, whatever.”

And the last week or so he’s been having a hard time staying in bed after he’s been “tucked in” for his nap or bedtime. Twice at naptime I’ve heard him walking around the room playing with stuff, and after I have him get back in bed it’s then that he decides to tell me, “Diaper change!” Granted, both times he has had dirty diapers, but that obviously wasn’t top priority for getting out of bed–it just works as a handy excuse when Mom comes calling. And one night he got out of bed twice after being tucked in, and both times when I went in there he was in the process of “picking up.” Like he thought since he couldn’t go to sleep he might as well be productive. And what really cracks me up is that every single one of these times that I’ve gone into the room when he’s been out of bed, he’s looked up at me with a really sheepish look on his face and just waved at me. Too funny.

And Ben is just getting cuter the way that any growing baby does. He’s so adorably chubby and soft and squeezable, I could spend my time snuggling and pinching and kissing on him all day. And his little personality is absolutely adorable too. He requires very little to be stimulated, which means he not only startles easily, but he laughs easily too, which makes for all kinds of silliness for the whole family. He especially finds Sean funny. All Sean has to do is make a goofy face at him and Ben giggles like it’s the funniest thing in the world. It’s great fun.

And he seems to be forgetting that he’s only five months old. Already he cannot stand lying on his back just trying to roll over. He’s happiest when he’s propped up in a sitting position playing with his toys or whatever else he can get his hands on. Lying down and rolling over is for the birds (or dogs or cats…). I guess he figures he’s already tried that and realized it didn’t get him very far, so he might as well move on to bigger and better things. I’m just afraid he’s going to move a bit too quickly for my liking.

Chris and I went on our first date tonight since our first date…not really, but it felt like it. Seriously, it’s been a long time. And in some ways it really did feel like a first date. Can you believe I actually felt giddy holding his hand walking into the restaurant? It’s not like we never hold hands anymore, we just don’t usually get to do it in public since we’re having to use them to haul kids around along with all of the kid paraphernalia. So holding hands tonight was definitely a satisfying luxury. And dinner was delicious…and hot. And the conversation was fun and relaxing. And Chris was as handsome and charming as ever. I loved every minute of our two hours sans kids.

Some friends of our’s here were trying to explain to their teenage son one night a while back why they wouldn’t let him stay up and watch junk on TV after they went to bed. The conversation, as I understand is typical between teenage boys and their parents (since I know teenage girls don’t converse like this), went something like this:

Dad: What happens when it’s dark outside?Son: I KNOW!Dad: Okay, then what happens?Son:I KNOW!Dad:Okay, then just say it! Sin happens!

Yeah, well, sin happened last night in this household. Funny how Satan can take advantage of a tired-and-stuffed-up-and-sore-throated mom, a tired-and-stuffed-up-and-one-day-post-puking dad, a restless-and-flailing-and-sobbing-and-clinging toddler, and a tired-and-stuffed-up-and-unable-to-breathe-well baby. Okay, so maybe Satan’s the only one laughing (except for maybe all you folks reading this, to whom I say, “Get behind me, Satan!”). Let me tell you, I didn’t exactly “do all things without grumbling and complaining.” Chris, on the other hand (good man that he is), went from rocking the baby, consoling the toddler, and watching the mom leave to try to go sleep on the couch, all without saying a word (although I think he said his fair share today when he had to watch the boys while I was working). I guess I figured that parenting didn’t require keeping my armor on 24/7. Maybe by the last child I’ll know better.

And then there are the parenting moments on the other end of the spectrum when we get to experience things like hearing Sean saying to Ben, “HI, MEN! I YUV YOU!” Or watching Sean fall down on the floor over and over again in front of Ben in his ultrasaucer and hearing the two of them go off in peals of laughter every time. Or rocking Ben to sleep (even when he’s stuffy). Or laying in bed with Sean and listening to a spring thunderstorm outside and telling him that God made the rain and the lightning and the thunder. Or having conversations that consist of funny things like asking Sean where his food went (after he ate all of his supper) and having him look anxiously under the table for it. It’s easy to have my armor on then and to think I’m a good parent in moments like that. But I’m sure by the last child I’ll know better.

I’ve been lamenting lately the fact that Sean still, even with his recent vocabulary explosion, has refused to acknowledge me by name. When prompted he might call me “bah-y” (mommy), but he would never say it on his own. Meanwhile, I’ve had to sit back and listen to him start naming off all kinds of other relatives: “da-ye” and “men” he’s had down for a while, but lately he’s added “aunt do” (aunt jo), “be-ye” (mimi) and “mamaw” (the only one he can actually say the way that it’s meant to be said). I have to remind myself that just because he doesn’t call me by a name he still knows me and loves me and knows how to get my attention, and that’s obviously enough for him and should be for me.

Last night I was cleaning up the kitchen and he came running in holding a toy and saying, “Mom! Ook! Dog!” I thought maybe it was a fluke and he was referring to something else, but a few more times last night he most obviously referred to me as “mom.” Not real sure where the abbreviated form of mommy came from, since we’ve never called me “mom,” but hey, at this point I’ll take whatever I can get. I’m just thrilled to have finally made the list.

In response to one of Joanna’s comments on one of my previous posts, I thought I’d jot down part of a past journal entry of mine to explain why I’m not quite ready to do a children’s book yet. See, I’m waiting for some creative ideas to hit me, but so far all I can think of is a book about a little boy whose mom and dad have to tell him multiple times in one day (or in five minutes) things like:

“Don’t poke his eye–point to it!”

“You can’t tackle him yet, he’s too little”

“Don’t lean all of your weight on him, just lay beside him”

“Don’t hit his head, be gentle”

“You kick balls, not people”

“Are you finished with your diaper?”

“Leave the kitty cat food alone, it doesn’t belong in their water”

“Pet the cat, don’t tackle him/her”

Of course, on the other hand, the little boy’s mom and dad also get to say every day things like:

“I love you”

“Your mommy’s sweet boy”

“Hi, lit’l boy!”

“You’re so sweet I could just squeeze you to pieces!”

“Mommy’s gonna get you!”

“Where’s mommy’s big boy? There he is!”

“You’re such a great big brother”

Still, not quite an interesting story line for a children’s book if you ask me. Never fear, though, Joanna, I haven’t given up on the idea. But I have to remind you, you know I have Dad’s genes in my blood, so it may be a while (as in years) before something hits me. Just be prepared.

I’ve just wasted about two hours or more of my time this afternoon by reading miscellaneous blogs (some of people I know, some I don’t) on pleonast. And yes, I do believe that “wasted” is the correct word to use. I had grand plans for how I was going to use those two hours before I had to log on for work this afternoon, but pleonast has a way of sucking you in without you realizing it and before you know it, you’ve spent two hours reading lots of little tidbits about lots of different people and feeling like you’re still not really sure why you spent all that time doing it.

Most of the problem is that all those little links are so addicting, whether it’s links to sites on the web or sites to others’ blogs, they’re just sitting there in their enticing little underlined or highlighted state whispering, “click on me, you know you want to.” You wouldn’t think pleonast would be much different than a blog on any other internet site (such as Blogger), but it is. It most definitely is. Don’t get me wrong, I can get caught up in going through all the nooks and crannies on my other friends’ blogs on other sites, but it’s way worse on pleonast. Probably because the friends lists are so ridiculously long and as you’re looking through them you’re either thinking, “Ooh, I remember them! I wonder what they’re up to” or “I wonder who that is” and either way, you click to find out and the next thing you know you’ve spent 15 minutes reading about somebody you talked to once 10 years ago but haven’t thought about since.

Ordinarily I never would have done something like this on my own, certainly wouldn’t have searched it out, but I saw it on the blog of a girl I knew and thought, “that’s kinda interesting, let’s see what that is” and before I knew it I was there taking its little test. Like I said, those little links just suck you in.

I hate pleonast, but seeing as how my brothers and my sister–and even my mom, now that I think about it–all have blogs (to one extent or another) on there, I’ll probably be wading through its murky waters more than I would like to. I’ll just have to remember to put my floaties on before I go in next time and maybe I’ll be able to pull myself out before it’s too late.

Here lately I’ve been thinking of how especially nice it would be to have excess money to spend on whatever I want. I try not to indulge myself with thoughts like this too often, because I know that right now I can’t responsibly act on them since we’re putting any and all extra money toward aggressive debt payments, but for some reason lately I’ve been letting my mind wander into the realm of, “I cannot wait to have money to…”. Maybe it’s because we’re seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and we know that in less than a year, if all goes as planned, we’ll be completely debt free other than our house and our student loans, a situation we haven’t been in since before we were married. Or maybe it’s because there’s so much around this house that is becoming more and more in need of repair. Or maybe I’m just being plain ungrateful for what I do have and can do. It’s probably the latter. In any case, I’m getting it out in the open and making a list of what I would like to do, eventually, with whatever excess money we may have, in the hopes that by putting it on paper, I’ll put it out of my head. So, here’s my list of things I would do now if I had the money to do them:

Begin and end a “first year” scrapbook for Sean

Begin and end a “second year” scrapbook for Sean

Begin a “first year” scrapbook for Ben

Begin a host of other scrapbooks I have planned

Finish redoing the kitchen and dining room by tearing out the tile on the backsplash, putting in hardwood floors, and replacing the baseboards

Paint our bedroom, buy new blinds and curtains for our window, and buy one big old cheap dresser to replace both of our’s

Replace the carpet upstairs

Paint the living room

Recover the living room sectional

Gut and redo both bathrooms

Finish decorating the nursery

Buy a swingset

Buy a sandbox

Buy a minivan

And to offset the “I want, I want, I want” sound of this post, here’s a list of things that I constantly remind myself I’m most grateful for:

A wonderful, loving, hilarious husband who, after almost 6 years of marriage, is still trying to change himself to be the man I need/want him to be (even though he is that every day, always has been and always will be)

Two absolutely adorable, loveable, squeezable, enjoyable little boys that melt my heart with their grins and giggles and hugs and kisses and sparkly eyes

Three sets of deep, awe-inspiring brown eyes–all the same, but different

The past experience of a happy childhood, the present enjoyment of a happy motherhood, and the future expectation of a happy empty-nest-hood